


Ask Her Out [Of The Tower]

by Grubbutts



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Dragons, F/F, Fluff, Love Confessions, Minor Injuries, Period-Typical Sexism, Rose is a princess in a tower and Kanaya is her protective Dragon, Royalty, Temporarily Unrequited Love, but low key
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-16 04:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21030164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grubbutts/pseuds/Grubbutts
Summary: Rose is a human, meant for protecting, not swooning over. Besides it's not like she'd ever feel the say way, especially for a dragon. Right?Right?





	Ask Her Out [Of The Tower]

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday!!!! 💛💛💛💛
> 
> I've never written Rosemary before so I hope I did okay and I really hope you like it!

As amusing as it is to see men from all the nearby kingdoms poke around in her tower, Rose finds an awful lot to get bored with when Kanaya is gone. She doesn't blame her though, after all a dragon must eat, but there's only so much a girl can do to occupy herself with all alone in an almost abandoned sepulchre. 

These ancient ruins have been the home of many of her kind, unwed princesses that is, strung up like a roast ham wafting into the breeze for any bug of a man to claim her.

Ugh.

Because somehow she just can't be trusted to go on her own to court someone, let alone anyone but a man. Sure there have been her fair share of men she's been interested in, but for god's sake think of the women too. Not to mention those all in between. She has the right of mind to simply marry the first non man she sees approach the tower. She's told Kanaya as much as well but of course her large companion insists on vetting them through skill and wit.

She's like a big scaley Sphinx. 

It's been her duty all these years to protect and provide for those locked up in here, and parse through potential partners and gatekeep against those unworthy.

Basically to get all the dumb assholes to fuck off.

Rose wouldn't mind breaking out of here for something to do, but she enjoys Kanaya's company. Except right now Kanaya isn't here and Rose is going stir crazy. She's altered some of her clothes into comfortable blouses and pants, and wears them as she looks for things to do. There are only so many chandeliers one can swing on and see how high she can go before it crumbles. She's even managed to wiggle a few bricks loose from the walls, wondering how many more it would take to break.

The older parts of her tower are much more easy to disassemble and reassemble and she enjoys making new pathways and mazes to relearn. She's tried to get Kanaya in on it too and build her more walls but she insists she's too big to be able to do that without making it all tumble down, as if the main chapel isn't already cavernous as it is.

It's where Rose is, fussing with the stones, when the tell tale sound of wings flapping echo through the halls and the ground gently shakes as she lands. Finally. Rose was about to throw these into a window or two just to have something interesting happen. 

Down the hall, she can hear claws clicking against stone and a thick scaled tail sliding along the ground. She doesn't turn around to see her, more focused on placing a rock just so, but she knows she's there all the same. "Welcome back," she says warmly.

There's a plop and a splatter of something hitting the ground, then something even bigger shifts to lay down beside it. "I do seem to be welcomed with a back, yes."

Rose smiles to herself, adjusting the rock, before she turns around to the large green dragon towering over her with a meal hidden beneath her sizable claw. "I assume the hunt was successful?"

Kanaya's nostrils flare and her shoulders twitch. "Unfortunately no."

"Then what's that?" Rose points to the horned beast beneath the bigger horned beasts claw.

"Certainly not a successful hunt by the looks of it." She teases.

Rose pops her hip and smiles at her, "It's been a long while since I've had roast beef. Would you be a dear and take it to the kitchens for me? I've had such a long day working hard on all of this nothing, I don't think my back has it in me to carry that too."

"Yes, nothing is such hard work," Kanaya shakes her head stands back up on all fours. "Care for a ride?"

"Of course," Rose grins as Kanaya bows for her, allowing her to clamber up her arm until she finds purchase on her shoulder where she straddles. Then Kanaya stands back up and takes the meal in her mouth before climbing up the cobbled walls to the other levels where the kitchen resides.

Everything here is large and sizable enough for a dragon to fit through almost every space. But the kitchen is a little cramped compared to the other halls. There's a table and a fire pit, along with plenty of salt and spices to store and season the food. There are large pots and plates and bowls, vegetables pouring from a cornucopia of freshly picked harvests from the back gardens, and water jugs to last lifetimes.

Kanaya graciously helps to light the pit with a gentle spit of fire between her draconian lips. Rose in the meantime takes up her apron and delicately ties it around the small of her back before she rolls up her sleeves. She glances at the various knives and sizes up their dinner that rests on the main kitchen counter. 

++

To those that knew her intimately, Kanaya is a gentle beast. But to everyone else she's an absolute terror, and she wouldn't have it any other way. She's carried on the family tradition of guarding and protecting royalty trapped in her tower until the right suitor came along and proved themselves. She's made many friends with her wards, but none have caught her eye like Lady Lalonde has. 

The subtle curve of her soft cheeks, the playful brashness she exudes to make the mundane a little more interesting, her humor and grace, that of all things to worry about in this tower she chooses boredom to occupy her time with fixing and worrying. History has proven that her wards spent time pining away, worried about running off, finding food and preparing it, keeping warm. Sensible practical things.

But Rose would rather knock down a broken wall and rebuild it anew than suffer the indignities of filling in the cracks. It's quite stunning. Being human means she's able to delicately do the detailed work around the tower and make it her own in a way Kanaya can't.

She is human…

There have been a few of her wards that have been ones to heat the scales beneath her cheeks, but with Rose's particular pattern of being the exception, she sets her aflame like no other. She catches herself flirting with her at times, and wonders if Rose has meant for the conversation to dip into the salacious or if Kanaya's own want was slipping in. Of course acting on it would defeat the whole purpose of why they're here in the first place. She is to be married to a suitor that will stand by her side as she leads her country. A dragon could never occupy the space beside her throne. 

Yet she continues to wonder if it would at all be possible. Would Rose ever look at her the way she does at her? Would she be happy with what little she has to offer? Kanaya has no land, no gold, and what little influence she has is based on fear and challenge. It would not be conducive to a prosperous kingdom. 

"You seem to be rather down today Kanaya, is anything the matter?" Rose asks from her cozy reading spot beside the window. She rests on a pile of pillows and blankets and leans against the wall while the rain pitter patters against the glass.

Kanaya perks up from her perch on the other side of the room atop a few bookcases and looks down at her. "It would certainly be ironic if that were the case, but no. I'm okay, but thank you for asking."

"Hm yes, you're definitely too up to be down." She sets her book to the side and walks over to the shelves. "Come down, I'd like to show you something."

"Oh?" Kanaya slips down from atop the shelves and lands on her clawed paws like a cat with her tail softly swaying in interest.

"I know how much you love the exotic fabrics of my dress wear so I made you something. I hope it fits." Rose leads the way down the hall to a small closet, disappearing in the small alcove before returning with a brilliant red cloth that looks almost like oversized horse barding.

"Oh Rose…" she twitches her withers in delight.

"May I place it on you?"

She bows her head and leans in towards Rose, "Of course."

The process of gussying her up in fancy garb is much more seamless than she had anticipated. Rose makes quick easy work of the straps and buttons, looping around from her head to her wings to her tail.  
The way Rose delicately brushes her soft small fingers against her scales is nothing short of aggrandizing. She feels large and powerful at times, after all she is, but it's not often she feels this way around Rose. She has a habit of easily disarming her in the most inconspicuous of ways. 

Rose pulls away and shuffles her small human sized full body mirror towards her and… wow….

"Rose…"

"I know I know, I went all out on this. There are many fashion tomes scattered around here that I poured over for this. The sewing was the easier part."

Kanaya can't really say that it's hideous… but it is. She can feel the uneven cuts of fabric seen inwardly rubbing up on her scales, and it's unevenly fitting across her body. And the color scheme… There are quite a lot of colors that can be paired with green, but this looks like a cacophony of vomit. Yellow and pink and purple are a wonderful combination. But against her green scales it looks rather… insane.

"Now is the part where you say thank you Rose, this is a wonderful gift you've painstakingly made for my very large body. If that is a thing you intend on doing. I worry if I had made a mistake and please do tell me so if I have-"

"Several. There are several mistakes."

"Oh."

Kanaya blinks and shakes her head- whoops she didn't mean to say it like that. "Good mistakes, learning mistakes I mean."

"Hm!"

Rose's normally pinkish completion is turning into a beautiful red that really does pair well with her scales. She shuffles around to look at her and bows her head. "I am sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I appreciate this gift, quite a lot actually. But you have a lot to learn about fashion."

"Apparently."

"If you are interested I may be able to teach you. It would be nice to spend more time with you." She can feel her scales heat as she attempts to take off the barding. She's never been given a gift like this before, let alone one that took so much effort. Rose is far out of her depth on this one, perhaps one of the few subjects she doesn't know as well as Kanaya does, but she tried. She tried very hard and it makes her chest swell. 

"Sure that would be nice."

"Rose." She pauses to look at her.

Rose is red and her arms are crossed. If she remembers right, she can remember her saying something about that being a defensive posture meant to shield herself from criticism and judgement. So Kanaya chuffs and leans in to push her nose into Roses arms softly, effectively dropping them. "Thank you. I've never been lucky enough to be close with someone who would try so hard to make me a gift."

She shrugs, "Of course. Though it wasn't all that great, was it."

"Rose, the quality of the gift as to my standards are neither here nor there. You spent time and energy on me, and made me something. You read and studied on an interest of mine and attempted your best to fulfill it for me in some way. That is your gift to me. The dress is a bit of a moot point, though it's an excellent start if you'd like to continue on this path."

Rose lifts her arms to run her hands along the curved ridges of her about, feeling along the edges of scales and horns absentmindedly. She does this often when they are physically close. "I don't know, it's not something I'm inclined to have any particular proclivities to. But I don't oppose spending more time with you as you teach me."

Kanaya chuckles preens. 

++++

There have been a few princes that have come by, princes and knights alike. Rose misses her friends though. She's allowed to send and receive letters and she posts them on the walls. John is always badgering her to play pranks on the boys she doesn't want to marry. Jade says she should run off into the woods with her dragon. Dave… has been oddly silent recently.

At first he was appalled and amused at her predicament. It's not fair to be trapped waiting for someone she's supposed to meet and rule alongside with. But she's also trapped in a tower losing her mind with boredom and like Rose, Dave has a small affinity for schadenfreude. Still, it is a little worrisome not to hear back from him yet. Even his last few letters were short and to the point which is very unlike him.

It gnaws on her and she can tell Kanaya worries over her about it too. But when you become so isolated, even the smallest bit of a decrease in communication is disastrous. Kanaya has been especially mother-henny but Rose finds she doesn't mind. It's actually a welcome distraction from all this moping and lying around and thinking.

“Are you paying attention Rose?”

She looks up from the dress she’s stitching together, “Hm? Oh yes.”

“That’s very good because you know what i just said.”

“Yes, you said that I’m very good at this and don’t need to measure out the fabric.”

“Yes precisely. How very astute of you to pay attention so closely. There may be hope for you yet.” 

Rose sighs and leans against Kanaya’s scaley hide. “Do you think he’s alright?”

“I’m sure he is,” Kanaya twists her neck to place her head on Rose’s lap with a pleasant weight. “It is difficult work being a knight.” 

She nods and automatically begins running her hand along her snout up to her horns. “He always has a messenger crow on him though. You don’t think he’s been taken too, do you?”

Kanaya presses her weight a little more on her lap, “From what you have told me, he would only let himself do that if his captor was hot enough.”

“I don’t think you’re helping.”

“Am I not? Do you not think that if he is using his wily charms, his captor will go easier on him?”

She looks at Kanaya and purses her lips, “I have read you his letters. If anything, it will land him in more trouble.”

Kanaya chuffs a laugh and closes her eyes, “That may be so, yet-”

“Rosepunzel Rosepunzel, let down your dragon wife. She best keep on her muzzle, or else we gonna strife!” A stray voice from outside calls out.

Rose shoots up to her feet and Kanaya quickly blinks and lifts her head on high alert. 

“Shit I'm in no mood for this. Rose just get out here, poke your blonde little head out the window because I’m fuckin here and I’m ow as fuck.”

“That’s Dave!” Rose grins and rushes to the window. 

Kanaya is incredulous at best, it is her duty to protect her ward and fend off anyone who dares encroach on her territory seeking Rose. “Let me see him first.”

“No no, he’s okay. Let him in please,” she pauses to rest a hand on Kanaya’s cheek with a soft smile. Damn that smile. 

“Alright.”

Kanaya shuffles out of the room and Rose moves towards the window where she rests her chin on her hand and her elbow on the window sill. She gives him a little wave with her fingers and a cocky little grin. “Hello Dave,” she calls out to him down below.

“Thank fuck.”He sighs. He’s hunched over holding his side, “Can you give me a hand? There’s some shit going down and I can’t stay around for too long.”

Is he ok? It’s hard to see. He’s known to wear a lot of red, but there seems to be more there than usual… “Are you okay?”

“I’ll tell you more when- jesus fuck.”

Kanaya comes swooping down from the roof and lands beside him, shaking the ground beneath her claws. “You are Dave.”

“Yeah no shit. Jesus you’re bigger than I was expecting. Mind taking me up to the lady?” 

She watches him closely, flicking out her tongue to taste the air. It smells like blood. “Do you swear to bring her no harm?”

“No. I'm totally going to flop my injured body violently in her direction. Yes I swear.”

“Please see that you do so. You look to be a good meal and it would be a shame to waste it by allowing you to live without proper threatening bodily floppage.” She bows her head and shuffles low on her legs, extending her wing to allow him to climb up and straddle across her back. 

“I can see why Rose likes you,” he huffs with a laugh.

The comment makes Kanaya halt for just a moment, feeling warm and a little jittery. Rose likes her? Well it was obvious, they are friends after all, but it's different when someone else says it. It takes only a moment for her to start flapping her wide spread wings and she pounces off the ground, taking momentarily to the sky to get to the roof of the tower. She has her own entrance above with a generous hatch she slips through and slithers inside. 

Rose meets them towards the foyer, or what they like to call the foyer. It’s a larger area that leads to various hallways and rooms, but most especially to the roof. “Dave!” She rushes towards them as he slips off of Kanaya’s back and, half true to his word, flops against her arms as she embraces him into a hug. 

Jealousy isn’t something Kanaya is familiar with; it’s a strange twist in her gut as she watches the two. She realizes that Rose has hardly been afforded any personable contact with another human in some time. It makes her feel… lonely. The realization only hits her now that Rose will have to leave at some point, off to rule a kingdom with another human while she stays here and waits for another ward to watch over. 

It makes her incredibly sad. It’s so stupid that she didn’t realize this until now but it’s not something she wants to think about in the first place. 

“Dave, you’re hurt.” Rose pulls away from the hug and peers down at him.

“Yeah. Can you help me deal. It’s nbd but it hurts like a bitch.”

“Of course. Let’s go to the kitchen. Kanaya would you mind terribly finding the healing salves while I wash this out?”

“Not at all,” she says, like a liar. It isn’t like she doesn’t want to help Dave at all. Just… why does he have to be here and why does Rose have to prioritize him. Dummy, she knows why. She goes off to find the salves in a pleasant manner, pleasantly. 

Rose helps Dave along to a chair and eases him down before taking a basin and a rag, filling it with water. She kneels down beside him and helps him out of the outer layers of his armor. “What happened?”

“Derse finally snapped.” 

She presses the cloth against his wound and sighs, “I don't expect we’re welcome anymore?”

“Nope, well sort of. It’s complicated. Spades and Snowman took advantage of the fact that we’re not around what with stupid tradition they kept insisting on, keeping you here and Prospit stuff dragging me off. We’re not _not_ welcome back but they’re not gonna let us have a say in anything like, ever anymore. Which is fine by me, it just wanna chill and do knight shit but you might have a harder time with it.”

Rose can tell he’s trying to hold it all in, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. "I don't doubt it. Does Prospit know?" She dabs at his wound and wipes away the blood on his skin. It's already scabbing over so it much not have been too recent. How long has he been in pain?

"Yeah, John and the goof gang are keeping chill about it, but they also said they can hide us if we need to."

She smiles and pats dry the wound area, "That's nice of them. You don't suppose they'd like to break me out of here with a proposal, do you?" She hums a laugh.

Dave snorts and shakes his head, "Nah, that ain't how you're getting out of here."

The sounds of Kanaya's claws clacking against stone grown louder until she's rounding up the hallway with a basket of salves hanging from her maw. She walks over and places it on the ground beside Rose before sitting with them.

"Thank you Kanaya," Rose says and takes some of the ointment and begins slathering it onto Dave's side.

"Is he okay?"

Yeah," Dave says, "He's great, the peachiest goddamn motherfucker around. No pain whatsoever," he hisses through his teeth.

Kanaya snorts, "Clearly."

"He was telling me news from Derse, it may involve you too." Rose says.

"Oh?"

"I'm not going to be welcome home."

"That's a shame."

Dave eyes at her carefully.

"For now I believe we're safe here until they decide they're tired of me and wouldn't want me to marry anyway."

Kanaya passes her the bandages, "You will be safe much longer than that." She huff's decisively which draws a giggle from Rose.

"I suppose you're right. There, okay Dave I think you're done." She says and stands back up, wiping her hands on her clothes.

"Thanks," Dave pulls his shirt back down and stands up too. "I woulda told you earlier but I couldn't risk it with a crow. Kinda in person stuff."

"Of course, thank you Dave."

Kanaya eyes them both. She suspects that it wasn't the only 'in person stuff' he's talking about. 

"Mind if I collapse in a bed somewhere?"

"Not at all, we have a lot of guest rooms around. You will of course stay the night as well so you can stock up on food and rest."

Dave smirks at her, "Sweet. Where's the uh-"

"Kanaya can show you. I have to start preparing."

"Awesome." He starts to head out along with Kanaya in tow.

"Oh, and Dave?" Rose pipes up.

"Yeah?"

"Missed you too."

Dave turns back around but Kanaya can see the way edges of his lips perk up. Well… she doesn't have a chance, does she? She thought she knew how human relationships worked but not anymore. What kind of signs were those? Do they have a history? What kind of history? 

It's quiet between them, and impossibly loud. 

“Rose has told me quite a bit about you.” Kanaya says, tentatively dipping a clawed toe into the pool of familiar conversation. 

“What’d she say? You legally gotta tell me. Did she say anything bad? Nah she’d never, not outright. Bet she told you I’m really good and cool and good looking but dripping with her sarcasm that took a motorboat of a tumble in the gravitatas, right?”

She’s… not really sure what to say to that, so she opts for eloquence to help her out. “What?”

“Good things i hope?”

“Yes, more or less. She tells me you are close with the Prospitians.”

He barks a laugh, “She said that? As if she isn’t close too. What else did she tell you?”

“Most things.”

He nods and stays silent for a moment. 

“She told me you are half related.”

“Yeah we grew up close together, only share one of the parents, the other is a mystery. But she’s the one that got to keep her title which frankly, I’m good with. I don't care for getting involved.”

Kanaya listens along patiently. Rose has told her of her own plans for what she would do as a ruler, or an advisor. There’s always been something in her that wants to help whenever she can. She admitted that about her. They turn a few corridors down and go down a few flights of stairs until they reach the guest room. 

“I know her like the back of my hand.”

“Oh.” Her voice is subdued and hushed. 

“Which means i know when she’s in doki’s with someone.” 

“Um.”

She opens the door and Dave goes in, but stops in the threshold. He turns around and looks at her. "You know you got a chance, right?"

Kanaya blinks and her withers twitch. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that Rose likes you and if you ask her out she'd definitely say yes."

"I do not know where I would be asking her out _to_ let alone if she would want to be with someone who isn't human." Her ears pin back against her head and she neglects to realize her lack of denial.

"Dude she'd fuck a Kracken and you're at least a lot of steps above that. All the steps, bro."

"Oh my, stairs are quite dangerous though from what I've heard."

"Don't say I didn't warn ya."

They share a small laugh together in a peace that has warmed since his arrival. He turns to go into his room and Kanaya gives him a nod, "Rest well, Dave."

He nods back. "Thanks. Go ask her out now. If you don't tell her then I will." He gives a sardonic kind of smile before closing the door.

+++

Kanaya comes back to the kitchen to find Rose chopping away at carrots. She sneaks up best she can, snaking through until she’s just behind her. She slowly pokes her snout through the gap between Rose’s arm and her body, nosing in to get at a piece of carrot. 

“You could have asked,” Rose chuckles. 

Kanaya pulls aways chomping on her carrot with a few quiet chirps. “But that just wouldn’t be any fun.”

“Wouldn’t it though? ‘Please mistress may I have a piece of carrot?’” She giggles. 

Kanaya's scales heat again and her tail sways back and forth. “Would that be something you’d like to hear?” 

“Perhaps.”

Her heart races and pumps faster. “Or would you prefer to be the one asking?” 

“Oh?”

It’s now or never, and she’s wanted to admit it for so long. “I have something to tell you but I will only if you ask nicely.”

“You can’t be serious?” Rose asks but her grin only widens. 

Kanaya sits beside her and leans her head down closer, “As serious as a human heart attack.” After all, outright telling her just wouldn’t be any fun. 

“Can you please tell me what it is?”

She huffs low and soft by Rose’s ear, “That isn’t what I meant, Rose.” Nerves seize in her muscles but she pretends that’s not a thing that’s currently happening. 

Rose bites her lip and the red on her cheeks beam brightly. Dave was right. She really does-- “Mistress can you please tell me-- your lowly slave bimbo-- the draconian secrets you protect behind your magnificently fanged maw?”

Kanaya pauses and her jaw gapes. “You’re incredible…” she whispers, not realizing she even said anything. 

Rose turns around, “What?” 

Oh, she heard her. Hm, okay well… She puffs her chest out a little and shakes out her wings. “I have romantic feelings for you.”

She’s drifting in space, floating, waiting to see any kind of certain answer from Rose’s face. Her mouth dropped and her eyes are wide, but quickly she gathers herself up and smiles. “Me too.” 

Now Kanaya’s eyes widen. “What?”

Rose moves in close and presses a hand against Kanaya’s cheek, gently pulling her closer until she kisses the scaled ridge of her lips. “I said, me too.” 

Oh. Kanaya leans in heavily against Rose and almost knocks her down, making her laugh. And of course she kisses back, allowing her mouth to open and her long tongue spool out and land in Rose’s hair. 

"I was wondering when you would tell me," she giggles from beneath the weighty tongue and the drool messing up her hair. She suddenly feels like she understands everything, and damn is it good.


End file.
